Donation Center in Loveland begins assisting flood survivors

Survivor of both floods: 'This is 10 times worse than the Big Thompson flood'

By Jessica Benes Reporter-Herald Staff Writer

Posted:
09/16/2013 09:08:34 PM MDT

Tina Anderson, left, comforts her mom Barb Anderson, while they get coats and other essentials at the Northern Colorado Donation Center in a former Agilent/HP campus building in Loveland on Monday. Barb and her husband Andy where evacuated from their home a couple miles up from the Dam Store.
(
Lilia Munoz
)

"This is 10 times worse than the Big Thompson flood," said Barb Anderson as she shopped for warm clothes Monday afternoon at the Northern Colorado Donation Center.

"It just wiped it out. Cedar Cove is completely gone. That's just above us. Down below us, everything's gone down there. I saw the river actually chew up a tree, I mean it chewed it up, a great big tree and it hit the bank and it just ... it just was gone and I couldn't believe it."

The Northern Colorado Donation Center, located in the old Agilent campus at 815 14th St. SW, started accepting donations Sunday and already had a few displaced residents picking up food and household essentials Monday morning.

The donation center is in building D ("D" for donation) and the disaster assistance center is in building B ("B" for benefits, or DAC).

Residents should stop by Benefits first to get registered and obtain an identification card, which will allow them to shop for food and clothes at the donations center.

The donation center will officially open at 8 a.m. Wednesday and Betsey Hale with the city of Loveland said that needed necessities include cooking oil, diapers, towels, nonperishable food and cash.

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Flood Survivor Benefits

Northern Colorado Donation Center: Open 7 a.m.-7 p.m. seven days a week at 815 14th St. SW, in the former Agilent/HP campus, Building D.

Disaster Assistance Center: Open 8 a.m.-6 p.m. seven days a week, also at 815 14th St. SW, Building B. Check in to receive an ID card to shop at the donations center.

Info: Visit cityofloveland.org for details. Volunteers are also being accepted at both locations.

Around 200 volunteers had already stopped by to offer assistance by Monday morning, according to donations manager Cathy Kissner. Displaced residents are invited to take what they need in waves.

Residents should start out with what is needed while living at a shelter or with friends, and come back for more when a more permanent resident is established.

"We have everything set up for multiple returns," Kissner said. The donation center will be around for as long as clients need it, which could be up to six months.

People dropping off donations will receive a tax receipt if needed.

Although the two centers aren't officially open yet, several residents checked in and shopped for toilet paper, granola bars, shoes and warm coats Monday.

Barb Anderson, who was almost inconsolable with grief after living through her second flood, described what it was like for her and her husband Andy watching first a neighborhood man and then two others cross a perilous section of flood waters to rescue Florence and Mike Horn on Friday, who are now resting at Medical Center of the Rockies. The Horns live at Cedar Cove and had walked down to their neighbor, who lives near the Andersons.

"Our neighbor boy heard someone screaming and went down to the river and went through the flooded area and got over there ... He came back across because he couldn't carry her," Anderson said. "And two other neighbors that shouldn't have been down there either went down there with a backhoe and put her on it and pulled her out."

Then they heard Mike yelling from a spot where he had grabbed hold of a tree and pulled him out of the water as well. "It's a miracle that they made it out," Barb Anderson said. The Andersons weren't sure where the couple had ended up until Monday afternoon, when media reported on the couple's conditions at Medical Center of the Rockies.

Anderson's daughter, Tina, lives and works at Sylvan Dale Guest Ranch and didn't hear from her parents until Sunday. "They were two miles from me and I couldn't get to them," she said, hugging her mother tightly.

This is the family's second flood. In 1976, the Andersons' home was in the same location and Tina was just 9 years old. She remembers friends who were never found and she is so happy that that didn't happen to her parents.

Tony Kiser, who lives in a boarding house on West First Street, was evacuated about four hours before flood waters left 12-14 inches of water in the building. "Everything inside is trashed," he said. "I lost my truck." Kiser is staying at a friend's home and might not get back into his home for four to six weeks while the landlord, who did have flood insurance, organizes the restoration.

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